Patient-reported observations on medical procedure timeliness (PROMPT) in breast cancer: a qualitative study.

PURPOSE: Timeliness of care is an important healthcare outcome measure. The objective of this study was to explore patient perspectives on the timeliness of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment at accredited breast cancer centers. METHODS: In this qualitative study, 1 hour virtual interviews were conducted with participants 18-75 years old who were diagnosed and treated for stage 0-III breast cancer at a National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers facility from 2018 to 2022. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes of participant experiences. RESULTS: Twenty-eight participants were interviewed. Two thematic domains were identified: etiologies of expedited or delayed care and the impact of delayed or expedited care on patients. Within these domains, multiple themes emerged. For etiologies of expedited or delayed care, participants discussed (1) the effect of scheduling appointments, (2) the COVID-19 pandemic, (3) dissatisfaction with the timeline for various parts of the diagnostic workup, and (4) delays related to patient factors, including socioeconomic status. For the impact of expedited or delayed care, patients discussed (1) the emotional and mental impact of waiting, (2) the importance of communication and clear expectations, and (3) the impact of electronic health portals. Patients desired each care interval (e.g., the time from mammogram to breast biopsy) to be approximately 7 days, with longer intervals sometimes preferred prior to surgery. CONCLUSION: These patient interviews identify areas of delay and provide patient-centered, actionable items to improve the timeliness of breast cancer care.

An In-Visit Decision Aid for Surgeons to Address Decision Making for Bilateral Mastectomy for Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: Few decision aids for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are used by surgeons during their consultations with patients. METHODS: From 2017 to 2019, an online interactive breast cancer in-visit decision aid (BIDA) was used on 63 patients and 57 patients underwent usual care (UC). We compared knowledge, decision involvement, anxiety and distress (HADS scale), quality of life (PROMIS), fear of recurrence, body image, and patient values between BIDA and UC before surgery. A knowledge score of ≥ 57% was considered "high knowledge." RESULTS: A total of 188 patients were enrolled of which 120 (63.8%) completed all study procedures. Patient demographic characteristics and anxiety and quality of life (QOL) at baseline were similar between patients in BIDA and UC cohorts. After seeing the surgeon, patients in the BIDA group had higher composite knowledge scores compared with UC patients [n = 55 (87.3%) vs. n = 39 (68.4%) respectively, p = 0.012]. Patients in the BIDA cohort reported being asked more often their surgical preference (p = 0.013) and discussing bilateral mastectomy (BM) as an option (p = 0.048). There was a trend of less patients in the BIDA cohort undergoing BM then in the UC cohort [10 (15.9%) vs. 14 (24.6%), p = 0.49]. Anxiety and distress, QOL, fear of recurrence, and body image were not significantly different between BIDA and UC cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: A decision aid used by surgeons during their consultation was associated with higher knowledge levels, patients reporting more discussion about BM, and a trend of lower BMs. A larger study with more patients is needed to confirm this finding.

Impact of an In-visit Decision Aid on Patient Knowledge about Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Studies have reported that breast cancer patients have limited understanding about the oncologic outcomes following contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM). We hypothesized that an in-visit decision aid (DA) would be associated with higher patient knowledge about the anticipated short and long term outcomes of CPM. METHODS: We piloted a DA which used the SCOPED: (Situation, Choices, Objectives, People, Evaluation and Decision) framework. Knowledge, dichotomized as "low" (≤3 correct) versus "high" (≥4 correct), was assessed immediately after the visit by a 5 item survey. There were 97 DA patients (response rate 62.2 %) and 114 usual care (UC) patients (response rate 71.3 %). RESULTS: Patient demographic factors were similar between the two groups. Twenty-one (21.7 %) patients in the DA group underwent CPM compared with 18 (15.8 %) in the UC group (p = 0.22). Mean and median knowledge levels were significantly higher in the DA group compared with the UC group for patients of all ages, tumor stage, race, family history, anxiety levels, worry about CBC, and surgery type. Eighty-six (78.9 %) of UC versus 35 (37.9 %) DA patients had low knowledge. Of patients who underwent CPM, 15 (83.3 %) in the UC cohort versus 5 (25.0 %) of DA patients had "low" knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge was higher in the DA group. The UC group had approximately three times the number of patients of the DA group who were at risk for making a poorly informed decision to have CPM. Future studies should assess the impact of increased knowledge on overall CPM rates.